Drop Dead.

“Two more days, aren’t you excited, Jinx?” Gel hollers, spinning round and round in the snow. With her arms spread out wide and head tilting upwards, she catches the falling crystals on her tongue and giggles. “Just imagine all the friends we’re going to make! This is going to be so much fun…well except for the learning part. I could live without that.”

“Can’t we both,” I chuckle, smiling softly at her. She smiles in response and kicks her feet around wildly in the snow. She wraps her scarf tightly around her neck before diving into the snow.

“Lets make a snow man,” she suggests, sitting up after making a snow angel.

I grunt. “Do we have to?”

“Yeah, it can be like…a greeting to dad when he comes home!” Gel exclaims excitedly, dad being Ken. She gets to her feet and explains her idea to me. “We can give him a stick arm to make him look like he’s waving so even if we aren’t home dad has someone waving welcome home to him.”

“You’re so weird,” I mumble, getting a snow ball thrown at me, which I easily dodge. Sighing, I get up to begin helping out with the “welcome home snow man.” Whatever, if Gel wants to make a snow man we will. It’s winter after all and isn’t making a snow man pretty much a law? You just have to do it.

Just as Gel and I finish the first piece an all too familiar voice shouts, “What are you doing?”

Both Gel and I look over to see Laker standing just a few feet away. While I glare angrily at him, Gel smiles and replies, “Making a snow man! Want to help?”

“Gel,” I hiss but the girl ignores me.

“The more the merrier!”

And just like that my day is completely ruined because of course Laker has to accept and come bouncing over to us to helpmore like annoy me to the point where I want to kill him. And after an agonizingly long time, we finish the snow man and Gel squeals with happiness. I finally think Laker is going to leave until Mimi steps out of the house and asks, “Do you three want some hot chocolate?”

“Yeah, that’d be awesome, thanks Aunt Mimi,” Laker says around a thankful smile and he follows Gel into the house. I growl and debate on burying myself in the snow to suffocate or freeze to death. Before I can do either, a hand wraps itself around my own and I jump.

Looking to my side, I find Laker. He smirks and leans in so close that our breath is mingling. My brain is screaming at me to pull away and bury my fist in his face but for some odd reason I’m frozen to the spot. Laker chuckles like he knows my dilemma and pulls away. “Come on, you’ll freeze if you stay out here.”

He easily tugs me inside. It isn’t until the warmth of the hot chocolate hits my face that I realize it. Grumbling, I throw off my snow gear and take the mug from Laker’s hand. Shoving my shoulder against his, I move into the living room and take a seat in the chair where he can’t sit beside me.

But someone up there hates me because he does anyways.

“Can’t you sit on the couch?” I glare at him. We’re both crushed in the seat but he seems to be fucking dandy.

“No,” he replies around a grin. “Ken and Mimi are sitting there.”

“Ken isn’t here.” The front door opens and in walks the man we’re talking about. He smiles and I nearly dump the hot chocolate on me in hopes to burn myself alive.

“He is now,” Laker chuckles. “So I guess we’re stuck like this.”

“I fucking hate you.”

Laker either didn’t hear me or didn’t care because he said nothing. After a few minutes of being crushed, I get up and head up to my room. Mimi calls after me but I ignore her and make it to my room, shutting the door behind me.

I don’t know what it is about him but…I don’t like it. I don’t like the feelings I get around him at all. Saying it like that makes it sound like I like him or something, which I don’t because he’s a.) a boy and b.) he’s Laker.

“I hear that you’re starting school Monday.”

At the sound of his voice, I jump and spin around to see Laker leaning against my door way. Grinning, he walks inside like he owns the damn place and takes a seat on my bed. I try to tell him to get off but he ignores me and asks, “What grade will you be in?”

“I’ll be a junior,” I reply. “Now can you get out? I left the living room to be away from you.”

Laker completely ignores the last part. “Ah, that sucks. I was hoping you’d be a senior, like me.”

“Luckily the God’s have spared me having to spend an entire school day with you.”

Laker pouts. “You’re so mean. What did I ever do to you?”

“The question is what will you do to me?” I snarl. “Now, damn it, get out of my room!”

Laker stares at me for a second. His green eyes are dancing with emotions but what they are, I don’t know. For a second he looks like he’s going to ask me something but in the end he shakes it off and chuckles, “You know, I like it in here. I think I’ll stay.”

“I hope you run into a fox and it mauls you.”

Laker laughs, “That’d be a pretty cool way to die.”